Manziel wins Davey O'Brien quarterback award

LAKE BUENA VISTA, Fla. - The Davey O'Brien Foundation today announced Texas A&M's Johnny Manziel as the 2012 Davey O'Brien National Quarterback Award® Winner. Todd Blackledge, the 1982 Davey O'Brien Winner, presented the award to Manziel during The Home Depot College Football Awards at the Walt Disney World Resort in Lake Buena Vista, Fla. He will be honored at the 36th Annual Davey O'Brien Awards Dinner on Feb. 18, 2013 in Fort Worth, Texas.

Manziel was named a finalist for the Davey O'Brien along with Kansas State's Collin Klein and Ohio State's Braxton Miller. The Davey O'Brien National Selection Committee selected the winner with the Fan Vote accounting for five percent of the total vote. The committee was asked to consider the following criteria: quarterback skills, athletic ability, academics, reputation as a team player, character, leadership and sportsmanship.

During Texas A&M's first season in the SEC, the redshirt freshman guided the Aggies (10-2, 6-2 SEC) to their best final BCS ranking since 1998, while notching a berth to the AT&T Cotton Bowl against former Big 12 opponent Oklahoma. Manziel also helped lead the Aggies to a signature win on the road against the then top-ranked Alabama Crimson Tide. After the impressive performance, during which Manziel accumulated 345 total yards and two touchdowns, Texas A&M head coach Kevin Sumlin stated "No moment is too big for him."

The explosive signal caller from Kerrville, Texas has had a record-setting season. Manziel has passed for 3,419 yards and rushed for 1,181 yards, becoming just the fifth NCAA Football Bowl Subdivision player and first freshman to throw for 3,000 yards and rush for 1,000 yards in the same season. He ranks second in the nation in points responsible for (21.50 points per game) and total offense with 383.33 yards per game. Manziel also leads the SEC with 1,181 rushing yards and 43 total touchdowns while setting the conference record for total yards in a season with 4,600.

Manziel, is Texas A&M's first Davey O'Brien National Quarterback Award winner. The last player from the SEC to win the award was Cam Newton in 2010.

About the Davey O'Brien National Quarterback Award® The Davey O'Brien National Quarterback Award is presented annually to the nation's best college quarterback and is the oldest and most prestigious national quarterback award. The Davey O'Brien Award honors candidates who exemplify Davey O'Brien's enduring character while exhibiting teamwork, sportsmanship and leadership in both academics and athletics. The award is overseen by the Davey O'Brien Foundation, which is headquartered in Fort Worth, Texas, and has given away more than $850,000 in scholarships and university grants to help high school and college athletes transform leadership on the field into leadership in life. For more information, visit www.DaveyOBrien.org.

The Davey O'Brien Award is a member of the National College Football Awards Association (NCFAA). The NCFAA was founded in 1997 as a coalition of the major collegiate football awards to protect, preserve and enhance the integrity, influence and prestige of the game's predominant awards. The NCFAA encourages professionalism and the highest standards for the administration of its member awards and the selection of their candidates and recipients. For more information, visit the association's official website, www.ncfaa.org.

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